The Fire Adept of Sol Sanctum
by Jet556
Summary: Based off of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Abandoned as a baby and raised in Sol Sanctum, the fire adept Garet lives as an outcast. The arrival of the beautiful Gypsy girl Mia begins a tragic series of events marked by jealousy, betrayal, and murder.
1. Ivan's Play

In the Great Hall of the Palace of Justice in Vale, crowds had gathered to watch a play. Although the important guests were not yet there, the crowd was restless.

Spectators bustled for space in the packed hall. A small group had even knocked out a window and sit high above, overlooking the stage. They shouted for the play to start.

The actors were frightened of the mob. Although the Vaultian ambassadors and royal guests hadn't yet arrived, the play began.

However, the performance was soon interrupted. An old man in rags climbed onto the stage and shouted over the actors.

"Charity, I beg you!" he shouted.

The man who wrote the play, Ivan, was angry at the interruption. This was his chance for fame and fortune.

"Begin again! Begin again!" he told the actors.

At that moment, the guests of honor arrived. They were here to celebrate the marriage of the Mayor's son to Jenna. But they were late.

The crowd was now noisy and unruly and had forgotten all about the play, Ivan, and the old beggar, Felix.


	2. The King of Fools

As the play could not continue, one of the ambassadors suggested that the crowd instead have fun electing a "King of Fools", the person who could make the ugliest face.

A small window was knocked out of the chapel opposite the Palace of Justice. T his was where the contestants would appear.

Some of the crowd gathered in the chapel, waiting unseen until it was their turn to display their ugliest faces. The contest began right away.

One after another, the citizens of Vale made hideous faces through the window frame.

The crowd went wild with excitement and laughter, as each person tried to outdo the last, until, the crowd gasped. A face more repulsive than any other they had seen stared out from the chapel window.

The bristly hair, the huge swollen eye, the misshaped skull, the mob had a clear winner. Someone recognized the face as that of Garet, the bell ringer of Sol Sanctum.

The people called for Garet to come out and receive his "prize." They clapped and cheered until the deaf hunchback appeared.

A young man emerged from the crowd and pointed at Garet's face. He teased the poor wretch, laughing at his deformity and ugliness.

However, the man got more than he bargained for. With great strength, Garet struck him in the chest and sent him flying backwards, limbs flailing.

The crowd laughed and applauded the spectacle. They then dressed Garet in a robe like that of a King and crowned him with a jester's hat.

Garet was not used to so much attention. He smiled happily as several strong men placed him on a throne and carried him aloft for all the village to see.

Ivan watched in dismay. He could not understand why the people would rather watch Garet than his masterpiece. What an ignorant mob!


	3. Mia

With the procession out of sight, Ivan walked the streets feeling sorry for himself. His chance of fame was over, his hopes of riches gone.

Suddenly he heard a cry of "Mia! Mia!" from the nearby Place of Grieving. He ran around the corner and saw a Gypsy girl dancing.

Her face was lit by the bonfire that blazed in the square. Her hair was as blue as the river. Her eyes, too were almost blue.

A crowd looked on in silence, enchanted by the sight of the beautiful young woman dancing before them. She was known as Mia.

Ivan was enchanted, too. He forgot all about his failed play and watched her as well.

Mia was not dancing alone. She was accompanied by a Mercury Djinni, which seemed to understand her commands and perform tricks.

"Come Fizz, dance!" Mia instructed.

The crowd clapped and threw money to the girl and her amazing pet djinni. She then began to sing.

Mia's beautiful voice rang out clearly, until she was interrupted by the shouts of an old woman from the nearby Tower of Kraden.

"Will you be quiet you cricket from hell!"

The crowd was angry and hurled abuse at the elderly woman, whose name was Dora, telling her to put an end to her curses.

Just then, the "King of Fools" procession burst onto the square, carrying Garet. All the thieves, ruffians, and beggars of the city had joined them.

At that moment, a hand reached out and pulled the hunchback from his seat, tearing off his cloak. It was the archdeacon of Sol Sanctum, Alex. The crowd looked on in terror, would the great fire crush the man of God?

But oddly it was Garet who looked afraid.

The two men did not speak to each other. Instead, they communicated using a sort of sign language, making shapes with their hands that no one else could understand.

Much to the crowd's surprise and disappointment, the archdeacon lead Garet away in the direction of the sanctum.


	4. Garet's Upbringing

Sixteen years before, morning mass had just finished in Sol Sanctum. People were filing out of the great doors ready to go home.

Inside, for old ladies were gathered around the foundlings' bed. This was where unwanted babies were left by mothers who could not care for them.

Inside the crib was a strange, ugly baby, crying out loudly. It had bristly hair and its face was twisted out of shape. None of the women wanted to care for the poor child.

However a young priest called Alex approached. He felt sorry for the unusual child and decided to bring him up as if he were his own.

Wrapping the baby in the folds of his gown, he carried him away. He named the little on Garet, meaning "almost."

As the boy grew older, Alex looked after him as a father, showing him the cloisters, chapels and corridors of the huge sanctum where he lived.

In time, young Garet learned the secrets of Sol Sanctum better than anyone. He rarely left the confines of its cold stone walls.

When the boy hunchback did venture outside, it was never a happy experience. Children threw stones and chased him with barking dogs.

Each time the priest and his adopted son left the sanctum together, people whispered and pointed at the odd pair.

Due to his harsh treatment, Garet learned to have respect for only one man, his savior, father, and only friend, Alex.

When Garet was older, Alex gave his son a job. He had to climb the many stairs to the top of Sol Sanctum's bell tower, and ring the great sanctum bells.

There was nothing the hunchback loved more dearly than making the bells swing with all his strength and feeling them shudder as they made their wonderful sound.

But, you may ask, how he can stand the crashing and booming of the bells so high in the tower? Well, dear reader, it is because over the years, that very noise had made him deaf!


	5. Kidnap and Rescue

Back in the present, the crowds from the Fool's parade had gone home to bed. It was a cold night and Mia was making her way home with Fizz.

She was being followed by Ivan. He was curious to see where she lived. Hearing a noise behind her, Mia peered back into the darkness.

All she could see were shadows in the dim streets. She turned quickly into a side road.

Suddenly, Ivan heard a scream from the alley into which she had stepped. He ran after her, no longer worried about being seen.

"Help! Help me!" screamed Mia.

Ivan saw two men struggling with Mia. One was the hunchback who lived in Sol Sanctum. The other wore a hooded cloak.

"What's this?" asked Ivan in surprise.

Before Ivan could do anything, Garet stepped forward and swung his great arm at him. The blow sent Ivan flying.

Ivan saw the hunchback pick up the gypsy girl as though she weighed nothing and set off down the alleyway with her.

"Murder! Murder!" screamed Ivan.

"Help me!" cried Mia.

"Halt, you villains!" ordered a man, approaching on horseback. "Release her!"

But Garet did not get far. Blocking his path was a soldier on horseback. Confused, the hunchback halted and the soldier seized the girl from him.

Garet rushed forward, trying to grab the girl from the soldier on horseback, but was immediately surrounded by more heavily armed soldiers.

Garet was seized and, although he struggled violently, the soldiers overpowered him and he was soon bound tightly by rope.

The gypsy and the soldier stared deeply into each other's eyes. The man introduced himself as Saturos.

"At your service, my beauty." He said.

Mia blushed and thanked the captain, before sliding from the saddle and disappearing into the night.

"Thank you." She said.


	6. The Kingdom of Vagabonds

Ivan's day was going from bad to worse. He lied bruised and freezing in a stinking gutter.

Dragging himself to his feet, he saw a light a short distance away. He hoped he would find food and warmth there.

As he approached, he found the path littered with beggars, vagrants, and cripples begging for money. He tried to ignore them and continue to where the light is coming from, but it seemed they had other ideas.

As he pushed past, they started to chase after him, throwing aside their crutches and sticks! Ivan was herded into a large hall filled with beggars and cripples where a large fire blazed, the infamous court of miracles.

Ivan found himself in front of a man seated on a barrel. It was none other than the beggar who interrupted his play, Felix! All around the hall, the cities lowlifes were drinking, dancing, and making merry.  
"Welcome to my court." said Felix

Here the old man was not a beggar, but a king, the King of Vagabonds! Felix told Ivan that he must pay a fine for entering his kingdom uninvited, or be hanged!  
"What is it to be?" asked Felix.

When Ivan said that he didn't have a single coin upon him, Felix told him that there was only one way to save his life, to join their gang, but first he had to pass a test.  
"You must prove yourself." stated Felix.

They hung up a gown covered in bells. Ivan had to climb a stool, reach into the pocket, and take a purse from it without making the bells sound.  
"Can you pick a pocket?" asked Felix.

He failed miserably. The crowd went wild with excitement, and poor Ivan was pale with fear as the "executioner" fixed a noose around his neck.

However, King Felix offered him a final chance to be saved. It was a vagabond custom, he said, that a man could be spared from hanging if someone in the room agreed to marry him.  
"Wed a wench, or it's the rope for you!" explained Felix.

Things were not looking good for Ivan until, at the last minute, the crowd parted and Mia stepped forward. She was willing to be wed to the condemned man, he was saved.  
"I will take him." stated Mia.


	7. Garet at the Pillory

The next day, at the town square, a huge crowd had gathered. Word had it that a public flogging would take place, and there were few things the bloodthirsty of Vale enjoyed more.

A cart rumbled into the square. On it, bound tightly with ropes and chains, was poor Garet. He did not struggle as he was led toward the central pillory.

Nor did he make a sound when soldiers stripped him to the waist and fastened him securely to the wheel in front of the crowd.

A man stepped up to the platform carrying a long whip of knotted leather. He rolled up his sleeves and flexed his muscles.

An hourglass filled with sand was turned over, indicating that the performance would begin.

The wheel began to turn, but the hunchback did not yet understand. As the first lash cut into his back, Garet's opened with pain.

The flogging got harder and harder until blood poured down the poor hunchback's sides. The crowd howled, taunting Garet. Stones and rotten food were thrown at him, too.

Garet struggled with his bonds but could not escape. The mob cheered to see him struggle and fail. Though he could not hear them, Garet saw the hate on their faces.

Suddenly he stopped struggling. Something had caught his eye, and he stared across the heads of the jeering crowd.

It was Alex, his adoptive father and master! He must have come to put an end to his son's terrible suffering. Garet was relieved to see him.

But, after looking on for a few moments, the archdeacon urged his horse on. Turning his back on Garet, he abandoned him to the crowd.

The light of hope in Garet's eye disappeared. He cried out in pain, and begged the crowd for a drink of water.  
"Water! Please! Water!" he begged.

Mia stepped forward and held a flask to the hunchback's mouth. The crowd went silent. In gratitude, he tried to kiss the Gypsy's hand. But the girl pulled away, frightened.

Suddenly, from the barred window of a cell nearby, a terrible screech was heard. Curses aimed at the Gypsy pierced the silence.  
"Curses on you, daughter of Imil!"


End file.
